French/Chinese comedian Frederic Chau, star of hit Gallic comedy “Serial Bad Weddings,” and popular Egyptian thesp Ahmed el-Fishawy (“Cairo 678”) will topline fresh Luxembourg and Egypt-set pic “Sawah,” an ambitious dramedy with cross-border potential being touted as the first co-prod between Egypt and Luxembourg.As previously announced, Luxembourg-based Egyptian director Adolf El Assal (“The Notorious Guys”) will direct the pic about an Egyptian student torn between living in Egypt or Europe during the Arab Spring. El Assal previously directed French comedy “Les Gars” (“The Notorious Guys”) about a bunch of young misfits on a bizarre road trip to Portugal.Palestinian-American hip hop producer Farid Karam Nassar, known as Fredwrek, who got his big break as Dr. Dre’s protege and has since produced tracks for artists including Ice Cube, Eminem, and Britney Spears, is on board to work alongside German composer Ali N. Askin (“Turkish for Beginners, “Life, Above All”) on the music shaping up as a key component of “Sawah.”

The storyline sees a young vegetarian pacifist DJ named Samir leave Alexandria at the onset of the Egyptian revolution to play the gig of lifetime in Berlin. Due to a mix up involving a fake passport he then lands in Luxembourg where he is sidetracked by several characters including a small time hustler, a cop, and a band of angry Gypsies.

The screenplay is by U.S-scribe Dennis Foon (“Life, Above All”).

Plan is for cameras to start rolling in September in Luxembourg and then in Egypt on “Sawah” which is being mounted as a co-prod between Luxembourg-based Wadi Films, set up by the director, and Cairo-based shingle The Producers known for fresh fare including “Blair Witch”-like Egyptian chiller “Warda.” “Sawah” is supported by Film Fund Luxembourg.

The Producers co-founder Hani Osama played up the fact that the pic features “a mix of the Egyptian and European culture” through a story that, he boasted, “will attract audiences domestically and internationally.”​Innovative Arab film distribution and promotion company Mad Solutions will distribute “Sawah” theatrically in the Arab world.